Nixon’s Fake NewsNoticias falsas de Nixon

Nixon’s Fake News

By Tony Utano

Everyone has the right to run for elected office.

If you think you have the best combination of ideas and experience, then throw your hat into the ring. But candidates don’t have the right to just make things up or distort the truth, which is exactly what gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon has been doing when talking about the subway system.

Her sequel to Sex in The City appears to be Lies in the Subway.

Last Thursday, for example, Nixon held a press conference at a subway station and said to reporters: “Gov. Cuomo’s continuing refusal to fund and fix the New York City subway is putting New Yorkers in danger.”

Someone needs to fact-check her scripts.

Cynthia Nixon.

As President of Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100 – which includes the 42,000 men and women who operate, fix and maintain the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) bus and subway system – I’d like to set the record straight.

First, the subway is overwhelmingly safe for riders. Our members are in the tunnels and on the tracks working night and day. There’s an unprecedented amount of maintenance and repairs taking place – thanks in large part to the additional funding Gov. Andrew Cuomo secured.

I’ve spent my entire working adult life as a subway worker and elected official with TWU Local 100. I’ve seen more than a few governors come and go over the last four decades. From where I stand, none of them embraced the MTA – and took managerial ownership of its transit system – like Gov. Cuomo. None of them squared up to the daunting challenges and problems of the 114-year-old subway like Gov. Cuomo has done.

Previous governors deflected responsibility for the authority when things went badly. He has done the opposite.

Mayor Bill de BlasioPhoto: Michael Appleton

Gov. Cuomo declared a state of emergency, appointed new leadership and provided critical funding.

He raised the state’s contribution to the MTA’s 2015-2019 capital plan by billions of dollars, up to $8.3 billion.

He immediately pledged more than $400 million for the Subway Action Plan when MTA Chairman Joe Lhota last summer outlined a wide-ranging list of initiatives to restore reliability.

Over 1,000 additional workers have been hired so far to do more inspections, maintenance and repairs on signals, subway train doors and other troublesome components in order to reduce breakdowns and delays.

Gov. Cuomo has repeatedly stepped up to the plate on behalf of the subway system, its riders and the workers – while Nixon’s buddy, Mayor Bill de Blasio, had to be dragged kicking and screaming off the bench.

For months, de Blasio refused to increase the city’s contribution to the 2015-2019 capital plan. He finally caved under intense political and public pressure.

The Mayor then refused to split the cost of the Subway Action Plan with the state. As a result, there was an eight-month delay before the plan was fully funded and operational. The Mayor finally caved in after Gov. Cuomo and the state legislature passed legislation that forced his hand. If the Mayor didn’t provide the funding, the state was authorized to seize city revenues to cover the city’s fair share.

It’s clear that the person Nixon should be criticizing is the Mayor.

The transit system has faced criticism.

If anyone has refused to fund and fix the subway, it’s the Mayor, not the Governor.

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